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Futsal grabs the limelight
Some twenty futsal teams duked it out on two pitches to win Rp 4 million (US$3,300) in prize money during the two-day Meazza Pahlawan Cup, which ran from Nov
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ome twenty futsal teams duked it out on two pitches to win Rp 4 million (US$3,300) in prize money during the two-day Meazza Pahlawan Cup, which ran from Nov. 29 to 30.
The Meazza Soccer Dome, which was opened in August, hosted three foreign, one mixed and 16 local teams during the competition.
"It is a great mix, we can also learn lots from the foreign players, they are hard fighting and very skilled," said Nasser Fakhry, the operational manager of Meazza.
"People are enjoying the cup, although we can*t apply all international rules, as there are too many and our pitches are smaller than the usual ones."
He also said futsal clubs were currently planning to establish a Bali futsal association next year.
The Meazza cup in Kerobokan was one sign futsal is becoming more popular on an island known for its beach games. Some went so far as to say futsal is the new soccer.
South Bali alone has seven futsal domes.
In addition to the one in Kerobakan, there are six more spread around South Bali, all of which opened this year. The success of the sport can be attributed to a number of factors.
Cenby Hutapea, chairman of the National Futsal Committee (BFN), said, "Since Indonesia hosted the Asian Futsal Championship in 2002 futsal has been growing continuously so we launched a National Futsal League (LFN) in 2006 to enter international futsal tournaments," he said.
The LFN encompasses seven professional teams. The league targets for that number to expand to 12 in the next couple of years.
The National Futsal Committee, which is part of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI -- a member of FIFA), also plans to start amateur Futsal leagues in every province of the country.
The BFN also offers futsal coaching courses, promotes futsal strategy and theory in the media and trains a national futsal team for the ASEAN Football Federation and Asian Football Confederation tournaments.
"Futsal doesn*t need many players and it only needs a little space. That makes this sport so popular. And parents don*t need to despair about their children's dirty clothes, because there are none," Hutapea said.
A futsal pitch -- typically 18 by 38 meters in size -- can be squeezed into a sports hall, a car parks, a side street and can even be converted from a tennis court.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players, including a goalkeeper. Each team is allowed a maximum of seven substitutes.
The word futsal derives from the Portuguese futebol de salao and the Spanish f*tbol sala/de sal*n, which can be translated as "indoor football".
Unlike some other forms of indoor football, the game is played on a hard surface or artificial grass delimited by lines or walls. Futsal is also played with a ball that is smaller and less bouncy compared to a regulation soccer ball.
The nature of the rules and the small size of the pitch requires teams to emphasize improvisation, creativity and technique as well as ball control and accurate passing.
"We want to promote it in schools too. Jakarta students can already take extra lessons in futsal if they wish to," Hutapea said. A number of schools in Bali offer the trendy sport.
Take, for example, SMAN 1, a state high school in central Denpasar, which offers free futsal lessons two to three times per week and also organizes tournaments against other high schools in Denpasar and surrounding regions.
